Canadian striker Jonathan David didn’t expect to be an immediate sensation in Belgian soccer.

But in his first season with Koninklijke Atletiek Associatie Gent, the Ottawa-raised 19-year-old has already put away eight goals in 23 matches.

“I just came in this year so I wasn’t even expecting to start that many games,” he said. “I was just hoping to start coming off the bench, playing 30, 50 minutes, coming on as much as I can. But I work hard and I got the starts so I’m happy.”

Coming back to the national team is always special, said the teen, who has three goals in three appearances with Team Canada.

“For me, it’s always fun because this is like my family,” David said after training on Thursday. “For me, coming here, it’s like going on vacation, coming back home because I get to see my friends and play football with them. And that’s what I like the most.”

It doesn’t hurt that the squad is stacked, he added, with teammates tied to marquee clubs like Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Barcelona.

“We have exciting talent coming up and we know that we just have to keep working hard, keep improving and we could really go somewhere with this team,” David said.

LISTEN: This week we talk Whitecaps, Premier League, international football, and away-day stories, as well as the usual red and yellow cards.

A deep pool of elite athletes is helping ease the mind of Team Canada coach John Herdman, who’ll be without one of the country’s brightest young soccer stars for this weekend’s contest.

Midfielder Alphonso Davies has been ruled out for the game after he suffered a stretched knee ligament during Bayern’s 6-0 rout of Mainz last weekend. The 18-year-old former Vancouver Whitecap scored his first Bundesliga goal in the victory.

“But we’ve got people to cover. … I think we’ve got real class in the team.”

Canada currently sits in third in the qualifying standings for CONCACAF Nations League with a 3-0-0 record and a plus-14 goal differential.

A win or a draw over 12th place French Guiana (2-0-1) would punch Canada’s ticket to the Nations League and the 2019 Gold Cup.

The team is expecting French Guiana to be a defensively resilient and try to frustrate them physically, hitting them on the transition.

“For us, we’ve got to control what we can control which is how we play,” he said. “We’ve got more quality than them, I’m clear on that. And it’ll come down to now our mind set for that game, whether we can just impose ourselves from whistle to whistle.”

Developing the chemistry needed to create the scoring opportunities that overwhelm opponents has been tough in such a short time span, but it’s a challenge all national teams face, said midfielder Mark-Anthony Kaye.

What’s different for Canada is that the up-and-coming squad isn’t yet known for playing a specific type of soccer like some other countries are.

“Now for us, because we’re starting this new identity and kind of flipping over a new page, it is kind of difficult sometimes,” said the 24-year-old Toronto native. “But that’s growing pains. And I think that all the guys have taken it very well.”

The group is working to carve out an identity for Canadian soccer on the international stage and create an example that future squads can follow.

“I think whenever you’re part of something new, it’s exciting and there’s a lot of responsibility that comes with it because the pressure’s on you to get it right,” he said. “You kind of set up the next generation so that it’s easier for them to come in and understand.”

Kaye is used to the pressure of creating something from scratch. He was an integral part of LAFC’s inaugural Major League Soccer season last year, putting up two goals and five assists before he was sidelined by an ankle injury.

“I have a decent understanding of how it works,” said Kaye, who returned to LAFC’s starting lineup this season and tallied a goal in the club’s 4-1 win over the Portland Timbers on March 10.

“You just need guys to buy into the culture. Everyone has to give it their all.”

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